Iran Reminds Yemen of Responsibility for Release of Kidnapped Diplomat

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Tehran once again reiterated that the ultimate responsibility for the release of Nour Ahmad Nikbakht, an Iranian embassy staffer abducted in Sana'a some months ago, lies with the Yemeni government.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif called on his Yemeni counterpart Abu Bakr Abdallah al-Qirbi on Monday to pursue the fate of the Iranian embassy staffer who has been held hostage since July this year.

In the telephone conversation with Qirbi, Zarif once again voiced the Islamic Republic’s concern over the fate of the abducted Iranian diplomat, and urged the Arab country to step up efforts and adopt appropriate measures to find and release Nikbakht.

On July 21, a group of armed men kidnapped Iranian Embassy staff member Nour Ahmad Nikbakht in Yemeni capital of Sana'a at gunpoint, and took him to an unknown location.

No group has claimed responsibility for the abduction and the officials at the Iranian foreign ministry are working with Yemeni government to locate and release him.

In August, Iran’s Foreign Ministry dispatched a delegation to Sana’a in order to pursue the fate of the abducted Iranian diplomat there. Back then, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir Abdollahian said that Tehran had information showing that the country's kidnapped embassy staffer was alive and well.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry has so far summoned the Yemeni chargé d'affaires twice to relay Tehran's grave concern over the fate of the diplomat and to remind Sana’a that it is responsible for Nikbakht’s safety and release.